Movielink Brings Star Blazers, Yamato Online

Fans of the classic anime series Star Blazers and Yamato can now get their fix online. Video-on-demand (VOD) service Movielink (www.Movielink.com), through a deal with trademark and copyright owner Voyager Ent., is offering select installments of the groundbreaking properties for download.

Star Blazers, originally produced in Japan in 1974 under the title Uchuu Senchen Yamato, was dubbed for English-speaking audiences and aired on U.S television as Star Blazers’Quest for Iscanda. Space Battleship Yamato, the first movie based on the TV series, was released in 1977. A followup, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, was released in 1978, followed by the second television series, The Comet Empire. The third TV series shown in the U.S. was The Bolar Wars.

The Star Blazers franchise has the crew of a large battleship-like spacecraft at war with Desslok of Gamilon and Prince Zordar of the Comet Empire. They also find themselves at odds with each other as rivalries emerge and relationships form.

Star Blazers’Quest for Iscandar episodes 1-26, and The Comet Empire episodes 1-13 are currently available to Movielink customers. Additional titles coming soon include The Bolar Wars series, as well as Yamato films such as Space Battleship Yamato, Farewell To Space Battleship Yamato: In The Name Of Love, Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage, Be Forever Yamato and Final Yamato.

Movielink is available to U.S. Internet users with broadband connections. To rent a movie, customers must register with Movielink and pay for the rental via credit card. Download rentals are priced by the individual studio/distributor and range between $1.99 and $5.99. Movielink’s Movies in Minutes feature lets customers begin watching movies within 2-10 minutes, or store movies for up to 30 days and experience unlimited viewing for any 24-hour period.

For more information on Star Blazers and the Space Battleship Yamato movies, see www.starblazers.com.